Haven Cross Academy
by Sylvage
Summary: Hermoine doesn't go to Hogwarts. She goes to an international school that teaches all those that the wizarding world won't as well as witches and wizards. AU. Maybe some mistakes. Don't own anything but the plot!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Hermoine got two letters on her 11th birthday. She also got two visitors. Both where witches. Both told her that she was a witch, and showed her magic. Both invited her to attend their wizarding schools. But she could only go to one. She knew what she chose was risky, but Hermoine was a witch, she could handle it, hopefully.

The first, one Professor Minerva McGonagall gave her a Hogwarts letter and took her to Diagon Alley to get her books for Hogwarts. She then listed all the regulations and limitations that were on her as a witch in a Muggle neighborhood. She had magic but she couldn't use it unless she wanted to be cast out of wizarding society was the gist of it, as Hermoine understood. She still had a year to decide whether she wanted to go to Hogwarts or not, which was nice. At least they weren't telling her she didn't have a choice. Well, they kind of where Hogwarts was the best and only school in Wizarding Britain. Unless she wanted to go abroad to Bulgaria or France, or something like that it was currently her only option.

The second visitor and letter were both magical as well. The second witch, a Mistress Nyx Sicari, was from a new wizarding school, that would hopefully let in young witches from all over the world. The school was going to be built in the sky using magic to hide it from view and to keep it suspended in the air. Ms. Sicari admitted after offering Hermoine admittance to the school that it had yet to be approved by any magical government and that it was basically on a trial run. If Hermoine accepted, she would be going to a school that could fail and if that happened would leave her without a recognized education. Ms. Sicari also told her that if Hermoine attended she would be a trial student whose scores and behavior would help determine if the school, Haven Cross Academy, would be recognized as a formal school. She admitted that the first option of the school being shut down was much more likely than the first as Haven Cross would be accepting anyone with magic from any country. This included witches and wizards, werewolves, werecats, sirens, house-elves, fairies, and veela.

Hermoine had no idea what any of these creatures where. When asked Ms. Sicari seemed quite knowledgable about them. She was a werewolf and as such had been unable to attend a magic school. She had not been able to get wolfsbane a potion that repressed the wolf and had found a way to live with the lycanthropy. She said she had had to learn magic by herself and steal a wand as the wizarding world wouldn't give magical were-wolf children wands unless they were being sent to Hogwarts or another magic school. She explained that the wizarding world looked down on creatures who weren't like them, or who they deemed dangerous.

House-elves she explained to Hermoine had it the worst. Used as slaves by many wizarding households, they were smart and powerful and only served wizards because long ago they had been tricked. Now most of them didn't want to be free because they didn't know any other life. To allow owners of house-elves to let their house-elves attend the school, and the other future teachers had said that it was a course that fixed unruly house-elves that didn't respond to the punishments set to them and that trained young house-elves to be obedient.

Sirens where considered dangerous because they had beautiful voices, though most knew how to control it. To hear her the wizarding world had a lot of bias against people unlike them and like her, witches and wizards that had on-magical parents, or Muggles. Hermoine liked that had called her parents non-magical people instead of Muggles like Professor McGonagall.

And so, even if it was a risk, Hermoine looked at Ms. Sicari and told her she would go to her school and help make the wizarding world more equal for everyone in it, no matter what they were. Ms. Sicari smiled and told her that she would pick her up in a few months from now for the start of the school year started the day after New Years. And would go year round, except for a short break for the summer months if students so chose.

Hermoine was warned that she would probably be one of the only witches and wizards at the school that wasn't a werewolf or werecat, or half veela, siren . Hermoine understood. But if she was going to be looked down on for something, she would rather be looked down on for something other than her blood status. She couldn't believe that Professor McGonagall had forgotten to mention that. Did she want Hermoine to go to Hogwarts totally unprepared? It didn't matter Hermoine told herself, as she was going to Haven Cross, but she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she had decided to take the safe route and go to Hogwarts. Probably nothing as exciting as going to school with fairies, and bird people, and other magical creatures. Like those poor house-elves. Ms. Sicari had said that they didn't want to be freed as they knew nothing but enslavement and that some house-elves had good lives. She assumed though that the house-elves being sent to Haven Cross would be the ones from the worst households or those that were young enough to be able to live free. Hermoine hadn't gotten a wand at Diagon Alley, but Ms. Sicari said that one the first day of school a wandmaker from a place called Knockturn Alley would come in and give all the students who needed wands, the chance to have custom made wands.

Hermoine couldn't wait for her first day of school.


	2. Chapter 2

On the 2nd of January, Hermione was up with the dawn. She packed her stuff into a large suitcase, including the books she had gotten in Diagon Alley. She didn't know if she would need them but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared. At 8 o'clock sharp, she heard a knock on the door. Opening it, Hermione met the gaze of an old regal looking woman with hair white as bone and piercing blue eyes. The way she stood made it seem like she could kill Hermione without a thought.

'_Be brave Hermione'_ She told herself as she tilted her chin a bit higher in an attempt to appear braver. She was nervous and confused. She thought that Ms. Sicari was going to pick her up.

The woman laughed. It was a warm sound, and even though it was probably directed at her, Hermione didn't feel mocked. The woman's smile was kind as was her laugh.

"My name is Professor Sylvestris. Headmistress Sicari had to finalize a few things, so I offered to take the students she was going to pick up. I will be teaching the students about sirens and the stigmas that come with it, reading body language, and lie detecting. You probably won't ever need to know how to be in tune with your inner wild cat or wolf though. Anyway, come along now."

Hermione followed the professor into the street. A large carriage pulled by large grey winged horses waited at the side of the road by her house. Hermione wanted to gape. Professor Sylvestris smiled back at her.

"Come on. All the students from the U.K and Britain are in there. You are one of the new student's from the U.K right?" She smiles to show it was meant in jest.

Hermione nods and gingerly steps into the carriage as Professor Sylvestris levitated her suitcase into the storage compartment. Inside she found an empty seat and sat down.

As the carriage lifted off she looked around at the others in the carriage. A young boy around her age watched out the window with his head on his knees. Hermione wondered if she should talk to him. Another boy sat by himself, staring around at the other occupants with veiled distaste. His blond hair was slicked back When his eyes met hers Hermione flinched. Even though she looked her age there was no way she would talk to someone who hated her without meeting her. She had hoped that this school wouldn't have people like that. Hermione hoped the blond boy was the exception, not the rule. Other kids around her age sat together in clusters, but they already seemed so tight-knit as though they had grown up together. There is a small creature with large ears dressed in rags. It is sitting sullenly on the floor of the carriage next to a seemingly younger creature that was like the first one only with better clothes. There were also a few floating lights in a cluster by one of the windows and merry tinkling sounds came from it. A few other people sat throughout the carriage but they were all older than Hermione and she wasn't brave enough to talk to them., She hated to admit it but she was so out of her depth right now she didn't think she could deal with talking to the small creatures on the floor.

In actuality, there were more people in the carriage than Hermione had expected. She had expected less because it was a new school and most people didn't want to risk losing out on 'actual' education. Hermione felt a shock go through her looking at all the children in the carriage, except for a few like her who had been accepted into Hogwarts everyone here had been shunned by the wizarding community. It made her sick.

Hermione wanted to fit in and for that, she needed to make connections. The boy looking out the window seemed the safest bet to Hermione at the time. Gathering up her courage Hermione stood and made her way to the seat next to the boy.

"Hi. My name's Hermione. What's your name?" She said with a cheery grin.

The boy looked up and smiled nervously back.

"Neville. Neville Longbottom. I was planning on Hogwarts next term. I turn 11 in July. But when I got this offer, well, my Gran said it would probably be the one time I would get chosen specially, I guess, I decided I should come. They weren't sure I would be accepted into Hogwarts and until Ms. Sicari came they thought I was a Squib."

Hermione nodded inwardly cheering. The boy was more like her than she thought. Except for the magical family. And he was almost her age.

"I'm the same. Kind of. I'm a muggle-born and I got my Hogwarts letter, I would be starting in your year even though I'm 11 because my birthday is after the start of term, and then I heard about this school, and it seemed like a chance to learn more about this world I just found out about. This place seemed like a better option. Aren't you excited?"

Neville looked at her for a moment before nodding. But Hermione knew that he was probably scared like she was that the school would fall through.

Nodding to herself Hermione looked out the window and gasped at the sight of the ground rushing by far beneath them. It was absolutely stunning, and normally she would have been afraid but all she felt was awestruck. This was going to be her life, up in the sky, she already felt like she never wanted to go down. Settling down more comfortably next to Neville, Hermione spent the rest of the journey looking out the window at the sight of the world passing by beneath her and alternately grilling Neville on things in the magical world.

When the carriage landed, Hermione was one of the first people off. She stepped off the carriage and into a courtyard made of clouds. Actual clouds. Bridges made of light spanned to other clouds where buildings rose rose. Four bridges went to clouds only wide enough to support a tall tower. Each tower faced one of the four cardinal directions. As one carriage emptied another landed. Carriages from everywhere on Earth. Waiting for everyone to arrive stood the Professors, those who hadn't gone to pick up students. Hermione could see Ms. Sicari, Headmistress Sicari if Professor Sylvestris as to be believed. The professors who had gone to pick up students joined the other professors until all the professors stood in front of the crowd of anxious students. The carriages departed flying off in the direction of another lower down cloud. Hermione stood sandwiched between the people from her carriage, the blond boy stood on one side, Neville on the other and the twinkling lights floated around in crowds throughout the air. Hermione almost jumped out of her skin when one of the light popped and a humanoid girl with pointed ears and silver hair appeared where before there had been light. She was dressed in a gown of light gossamer fabric that seemed to float in the air. She looked back at Hermione's involuntary gasp and grinned toothily. Hermione smiled back hesitantly.

The students slowly all quieted and once one could hear a pin drop(would a dropped pin make a sound on a cloud, Hermione wondered) Headmistress Sicari spoke.

"Welcome all. In a moment everyone will be sorted and given a wand, if necessary. For all immediate intents and purposes if you need to go someplace call out your name and the place you need to be and a trail only you can see will appear to your destination. No misbehaving or skipping class will be tolerated. Other than that have fun, branch out and learn. You'll be called forward one at a time for sorting. Once sorted and you have a wand go to the island that matches the direction of your house. Is that understood?" She paused. At the chorus of yes, she began calling names. Some sounded odd to Hermione but that was probably because they belonged to foreign magical creatures.

She watches with interest as each person give a drop of blood and reach into a box and pull out a wand. As they spin around and around 7 times before they stop facing one of the bridges. It is not as interesting as a hat, like what she read in Hogwarts A History but it is more like a choice than a hat choosing for you.

When Hermione is called forward she steps forward nervously. She can feel eyes on her and feels an urge to shrink in on herself. She takes the proffered knife and slices her palm letting her blood drip onto the lid of the box that the wandmaker shoves towards her. Two drops and she reaches in. She feels a wand fly to her hand and stick and she withdraws her hand. In her hand was a wand with a curved handle about 11 inches. The wand-maker murmured to her Vine wood dragon heartstring. She was given a holster that fit around her wrist under her sleeve. Once her wand was in place on her arm Hermione went to the middle and spun, muttering under her breath with her eyes scrunched closed..

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!"

At seven she stopped and swayed slightly before opening her eyes. She was facing East. Stumbling slightly, she was still dizzy, she made her way over to where the others in East stood. With the rest of her new house, Hermione watched the rest of the sorting. The boy she had talked to on the carriage ride here wound up facing the Northern island. A Phaet Tousilee and a Draco Malfoy both joined them in the East. And when the last person had been sorted, the fae that had grinned at her, Zarya, facing West, a professor led each group of students of the bridge and taught them how to get into the tower that corresponded to the direction they had been facing.

Once in her new bed in her new dormitory in a new school, Hermione listened to the sounds of the others around her age sleep before turning over and falling asleep herself.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione woke up the next morning at dawn to the sounds of the four other girls in her age group getting ready for the day and the morning sun peeking through the curtains. Blearily opening her eyes she saw the girl Phaet Tousilee brushing her long gleaming blonde locks with her fingers humming softly. A small creature like the ones Hermione had seen on her way here was cautiously getting into a small dress, looking around nervously like someone would hurt her. One girl with pale amber eyes that seemed to shift colors in certain lights was reading a book. Another girl has sea-green hair that seemed almost black was dressed in what seemed to be a wetsuit with a loose dress over it, her hair still wet from showering. None of them are in robes, Hermione notices and so feels okay to dress in jeans and a grey blouse. The familiar clothes help to boost her confidence.

Getting down from the tower to get to the mess hall is an adventure, to say the least. When the professor, a short half goblin named Jaggedtooth, had taught them how to get into the tower he had offhandedly mentioned that the towers had no doors, just windows with the common room actually having a ledge that students entered and exited through. The only problem with this was that the ledge was at the top of the tower with all the dorms below it. To get up the tower; Jaggedtooth explained, one had to step into a circle of runes drawn at the base of the tower below the ledge and speak the word 'up'. A current of air then lifted you to the ledge and you could enter the tower. Getting down though, that hadn't been explained. Hermione realized she should have paid more attention to how Jaggedtooth had gotten down and less attention to the people also in East Tower with her.

Though it was nice being able to get to know everyone. Though knowing the names of her year mates, and the names of a few of the older students didn't help much when they were all gathered onto the ledge trying to figure out how to get down.

Draco Malfoy apparently the son of the lady who had donated spell books to Haven Cross; and who apparently couldn't shut up about it, was actually the one to figure out how to get down. It was more of an accident really, someone had apparently gotten tired of his boasting and pushed him. He stumbled and toppled over the edge. Everyone was silent, worried he had died mostly until they saw the blond boy walking over the bridge that led to the central island.

After seeing that Draco was fine Phaet was the next one to jump. After that, the rest of the students in the tower started jumping off. It was like those two students jumping had been the trigger for the rest of them to see that it was okay to do something so crazy; like jumping off a tower and surviving was natural.

'_Magic is crazy. Awesome, powerful, and crazy. If it can allow people to survive a fall that would normally kill, what can't it do?!'_ Hermione thought as she watched.

The girl with shifting eyes that had introduced herself as Sylvia, American,were-cat, born to two No-Majs, came up beside Hermione.

"Well, that was unexpected. Honestly, I was expecting a bit more gore. I wonder if one can die from hitting the clouds hard. And what enchantment was used on the clouds to keep them solid? Anyway… I'm scared of jumping from up high. Always have been. Even if I see others doing it and being just fine. So I was wondering if you would jump with me?" She said looking down, letting her black hair hang around her face as if to hide her from the truth of her admission.

Hermione nodded. She was scared of heights and honestly was not looking forward to jumping from this high up. Sylvia seemed like someone she could become friends with. And since she had been told friendship was a two-way street, she decided to share something.

"I'm positively terrified of heights. Yesterday I was so in awe of all the magic that I thought that I couldn't be scared, but today… I'm half afraid I'm going to freeze up at least until I'm certain that the ground won't drop out from under me. So, I'd be really grateful if you know you would jump with me, and maybe walk with me? Just for a bit?" Hermione said, letting a little bit of fear and desperation slip into her voice.

Sylvia looked up and nodded, reaching out a hand. Hermione understood what Sylvia wanted and slipped her hand into hers. Together they approached the edge and before either of them could back out, jumped.

The clouds they landed on where soft and Hermione let out a sigh of relief that they hadn't died, echoed by Sylvia. Pushing themselves to their feet Sylvia and Hermione activated a trail that would lead them to the mess hall.

As promised Sylvia stuck by her until they got to the mess hall and sat at a table with Draco, Phaet, and Vivvie, the house elf that shared the dorm with Hermione and the others. Hermione could see Neville sitting with a table of what she assumed where his dorm-mates, and relaxed because he looked happy. When he looked over at her she smiled warmly at him. Hopefully, friendships between towers were allowed, from their limited interactions Hermione thought that she be good friends with the shy boy.

The mess hall looked normal with small circular tables that could seat ten comfortably scattered around a large open space with a pool in the middle of the floor; Hermione assumed it was for the sirens and large windows that let natural light into the open space. It managed to feel open while at the same time giving off vibes of a large cafe. Hermione was less nervous, probably because there was stone under her feet and not clouds.

On the walk over Hermione could have sworn the clouds shifted and she was walking only on hardened air and light. But before she could panic the cloud had shifted back and everything was normal again. Hermione could almost think she had imagined it; except Sylvia had turned to her and asked whether she thought the clouds where what they were walking on or if they were walking on air. So Hermione knew that she had seen the same thing, Sylvia never said things straight out she twisted her observations into questions to see if others were at the same conclusions or mental reasoning as her, in an effort to not stand out. While Hermione knew things and was proud of her knowledge, Sylvia while just as smart she as more into guiding people to the answer she had achieved while seeming just as average as the rest of them. Hermione wanted to ask why but was afraid that it was a too personal question for someone she had met less than 24 hours ago, but on the course of the morning, Hermione felt she had sown seeds of friendship. Honestly, two almost friends were more than she had ever had in her life, the children at her previous school had never quite understood her and were nervous of the things that she could cause to happen. Neville and Sylvia both had magic like her to Hermione that was as good a start to a friendship as any. Sylvia also had a healthy fear of doing logic-defying stunts and was born into a non-magical family like her. She was also in the same tower as her, so logically(Hermione prided herself on her ability to be logical) she was the best option to start with in terms of friendship. Honestly, Hermione wanted to pick Sylvia's head, or Phaet's, part-Veela, can you imagine! Or Vivvie, the small house-elf she shared a dorm with, she wondered how house-elves were treated and how she had just popped away from the tower. Or Anahita's the last girl in her dorm who was a siren and who never spoke around others for fear of enchanting them, but didn't want to pry.

As Hermione wondered on how best to build friendships with the others in her dorms chatted, except Anahita who sat watching with large eyes. Hermione was snapped out of her musings by Professor Jaggedtooth who was handing out the schedules of each of the students in East Tower.

Hermione took hers and looked it over:

_Monday_

_Introduction to the Magical World 8:30-10:00 am _

_Basic Charms 10:05-11:55 am_

_Lunch 12:00 am-1:00 pm_

_Basic Potions 1:05- 3:00 pm_

_Basic Defence 3:05-5:00 pm_

_Curfew at 8:00 pm_

_Tuesday_

_Magical Creatures 8:30-10:00 am_

_Basic Transfiguration 10:05-11:55 am_

_Lunch 12:00 am-1:00 pm_

_Basic Etiquette 1:05-3:00 pm_

_Basic Magical Law 3:05-5:00 pm_

_Curfew at 8:00 pm_

_Wednesday_

_Basic Lie-detecting and Manipulation 8:30-10:00 am _

_Basic Survival Skills 10:05-11:55 am_

_Lunch 12:00 am-1:00 pm_

_Basic Self-Defense 1:05- 3:00 pm_

_Free Study 3:05-5:00 pm_

_Astronomy 10:00 pm-12:00 am_

_Thursday_

_Divination 8:30-10:00 am _

_Basic Charms 10:05-11:55 am_

_Lunch 12:00 am-1:00 pm_

_Basic Potions 1:05- 3:00 pm_

_Basic Defence 3:05-5:00 pm_

_Curfew at 8:00 pm_

_Friday_

_Introduction to Wizarding World Relations with the Non-Magical World 8:30-10:00 am _

_Basic Transfiguration 10:05-11:55 am_

_Lunch 12:00 am-1:00 pm_

_Basic Magical Law 1:05-3:00 pm_

_Basic Magical Art 3:05-5:00 pm_

_Curfew at 8:00 pm_

_Saturday_

_Basic Self-Defense 8:30-10:00 am _

_Basic Survival Skills 10:05-11:55 am_

_Lunch 12:00 am-1:00 pm_

_Magical Creatures 1:05- 3:00 pm_

_Free Study 3:05-5:00 pm_

_Astronomy 10:00 pm-12:00 am_

_Sunday_

_Basic Lie-detecting and Manipulation 8:30-10:00 am _

_Basic Survival Skills 10:05-11:55 am_

_Lunch 12:00 am-1:00 pm_

_Basic Etiquette 1:05-3:00 pm_

_Free Study_

_Curfew at 8:00 pm_

After they all had their schedules everyone passed around their schedules to compare. Everyone at Hermione's table all had Basic Self-Defense, Basic Survival Skills, Basic Lie-detecting and Manipulation, Basic Magical Law and Astronomy twice a week. Draco had a similar schedule to Hermione though they only had etiquette once a week and where the second etiquette class would be was a class once a week on the Non-Magical world. Anahita, Phaet, Sylvia, and Vivvy had schedules and classes based on their personal magic with only one class on magical creatures. Other than that the schedules all had the same lunch times and curfews.

Once their plates had been cleared(Hermione wondered how they were cleaned and how the food was made) the group split up to head to their first class.

HCA

**A/N I don't own anything but the plot and the OCs. I think I have that in the description but I've forgotten to say in in the previous chapters. Sorry! **

**Also, does anyone have ideas for teachers? If so please leave a description of them in a review with name, what they teach, personality, physical description, etc.**


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione and Sylvia slipped into their first class of the week Introduction to the Magical World with a few minutes to spare. The class was for children who had been raised in Muggle-born homes and was intended to over the course of the year give them an idea about how they fit into the wizarding world and how to navigate it. Hermione found a seat in the front and Sylvia took a seat in the second row next to a boy who looked like her. A pretty ugly girl took a seat next to her.

_Be nice Hermione. It's the soul of a person that counts. _

So Hermione turned smiled and introduced herself to the witch who introduced herself as Meisa. Hermione found that underneath the ugly exterior was a biting if slightly self-deprecating wit and a quick mind. So maybe Meisa would be worth making a friend of. The teacher came in with the bell; a balding, portly man who introduced himself as Professor Amadeus Meyer.

The class was nothing like Hermione had expected. Honestly, she had no idea what she had been expecting but not a teacher who came in and asked them to write a list of everything they knew about the wizarding world.

"We need to know where to begin after all, and I would hate to drone on about things you already know! You all look like knowledgeable young children. Don't be ashamed there is no wrong answer here." The professor explained cheerfully to a baffled class of around 25 ten to eleven-year-olds. He waited expectantly until the students began pulling out whatever writing utensils they had with them, pens for most, though Hermione saw a few people using quills or things that looked like quills mixed with a calligraphy stylus. Looking down at her own piece of parchment and quill, that she had bought less than a year ago for Hogwarts Hermione picked up the quill and started on her list.

_Use quills to write instead of pens or pencils_

_Purebloods, half-bloods and mudbloods and blood prejudice are common in Britain, maybe elsewhere?_

_One wizarding bank called Gringotts run by goblins_

_There is a Statute of Secrecy in place as well as wards to keep people without magic from seeing our world_

_ICW as well as individual wizarding governments for each country_

_Seems to be a thing with Dark Lords or Ladies_

_Wizards and witches also seem to have a thing about prejudice and stigmas_

She looked over her list as she put down her quill and hoped that it was enough information. She'd read up on Hogwarts in Hogwarts: A History but she didn't know much about the rest of the wizarding world yet. Something this class would hopefully remedy. Once everyone had finished their lists Professor Meyer collected them with a wave of his wand and started skimming through them. Realizing he had a class, though he placed them down and asked them to start lobbying questions that they wanted answers for about the wizarding world. This was easier than making a list of things she knew about the wizarding world and Hermione raised her hand.

"Sir? Does the Wizarding world follow ancient customs that were also celebrated in the non-magical world before the Statute of Secrecy came into being?"

"That is a very complicated question, Miss Granger. For the most part, many ancient families celebrate the old holidays and customs but as those raised in the non-magical world come in they bring with them their own cultures and beliefs and that is where some of the bad blood between ancient, mainly pureblood families, and Muggle-borns and some half-bloods stems from. At first, the wizarding world asked those who came from Non-magical bloodlines and backgrounds to change to fit the world they were now in. But gradually a push came for the wizarding world to be the culture that was changing to accommodate muggle-borns coming in. Some wizards and wizarding communities take this better than others. The rest are what most call blood-purists because they take their wish for a lack of change and a return to the old days out on the source of the change. They also often don't marry outside of other families with views like theirs. They really are more traditionalists than anything, though some are more radical than others. The most recent Dark Lord-Voldemort in Britain- used the traditionalists' values and beliefs to build a support base to launch a war on blood purity something that also lends itself to the negative light placed on traditionalist families. Any other questions?"

The rest of the class was spent with Professor Meyer answering questions that they could come up with from the easier ones like 'why a quill? Is it okay I just have pencils and pens?' to 'Why does the Wizarding world only have one bank? What happens if it's robbed, like a major heist?'

Hermione left the class happy. Though there seemed to be no formal plan to the class it had been informative, and there was nothing Hermione loved more than gathering knowledge and utilizing it. She had spent most of the class writing down the answers to the questions being asked, and now walking to her next class Basic Charms her hand was aching.

* * *

Basic Charms was interesting with a more formal class structure than Intro to the Wizarding World. The teacher was a serious young woman by the name of Tallis Cauchemar. She had a pair of practical glasses on her face and as she walked into the loud room she flicked her wand and the cacophony of different languages and voices seemed to quiet.

Hermione found herself sitting next to a boy who spoke Russian, and a girl who was speaking in Spanish. When the teacher came in he Hermione was shocked to discover that though she knew they were speaking in languages she couldn't speak, after Professor Cauchemar did something with her wand, she could understand them. It was interesting and Hermione instantly wanted to learn everything that Professor Cauchemar could teach.

"Hello, class. Today we are to be learning two charms today if we are lucky. The first charm is the Levitation charm the first charm any young witch or wizard learns at almost all the wizarding schools. The motion is a swish and flick motion as seen on the board and the incantation is Wingardium Leviosa pronounced win-GAR-dium levi-OH-sa. You will do it on the feather in front of you. The second is a useful translation spell that is fairly easy and useful, especially in an international school like this one. We'll talk more about it when we get to that point. Don't be afraid to ask for help. If someone gets the charm and think you can explain what you did; help! Okay. Then hop to it!" Professor Cauchemar said.

Hermione was happier than ever that she had gone to Diagon Alley on her eleventh birthday even though she wouldn't be going to Hogwarts. She had bought the books and studied the wand movements, pronunciations, and theory. It allowed her to excel! Unlike in Intro to the Wizarding World where she had about the same amount of knowledge as everyone else she could be ahead in this class, though there were also children who had grown up with magic in this class, so maybe only as good as some the best in the class.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She said strongly filling her mind with images of the feather in front of her lifting into the air. She smiled as it worked, though she wouldn't admit it she had been scared that even though she had been accepted into two wizarding schools, gotten a wand, knew everything in the Hogwarts first-year curriculum, and was in a magical school in the sky that when she actually tried to do magic with a wand it would fail. Yes, odd things had happened to her when she was a child but they could all be easily explained off as bad luck or a trick of the light, or being sleep addled. Maybe the girl who had broken both her arms after throwing her books into the mud had just tripped, the boy whose tongue she had swelled after a mean common had an allergic reaction, the story her parents told her about her summoning books a dream they had made up when they had stayed up too late. It was one of her fears, that one day they would decide she wasn't magical enough to stay here, to learn and would send her away. Watching her feather float above her head she felt a bit of her fear melt away. She was magic and she would excel. Looking around she saw that she was one of the only people in the room who had her feather floating. Meisa had her feather floating and was helping Neville, who was also in the class, float his feather. Draco seemed to be grudgingly helping people by him learn. A few others were helping as well and as more people got the spell the more students were helping each other.

Hermione eager to learn the translation spell Professor Cauchemar had demonstrated quickly turned to the people sitting next to her and asked if they needed any help. With an hour left in the class, all the feathers were floating in the air and Professor Cauchemar had a small smile on her face.

"Now that I know you all know which end of the wand you use, I think I promised that I would teach you the simplest translation charm I know. The incantation is Intellige Lingua pronounced In-TELL-ige Lin-GUA. The wand movement is a clockwise half twist and then a small swish outwards and up. The smaller the wave the better. I will be removing the spell so you can know if it works. Pair off with someone who speaks a different language than you do and have them talk to you after you have attempted the spell. If you can understand then congratulations. If not keep trying."

Hermione found this spell harder than the Levitating Charm. It hadn't been in the Hogwarts first year book of spells. It took her four tries before he could understand Vladimir the boy she had paired up with. When she nodded with a grin he smiled at her and took out his wand to try the spell. It took him five tries and Hermione felt terrible, even as she smiled and nodded at the Russian boy because for the briefest moment she had felt happy that it had taken him one try longer than she had before he got the spell.

At the end of the class, only half the class had successfully managed the spell, though the other class was close to getting the spell. The professor assigned them homework on the theory behind the two spells they had learned and to practice the spells until they were perfect. Hermione left the class tired from all the magic, but she also felt satisfied with what she had accomplished. She had figured out why in her earlier class she could understand the students but in Charms, she hadn't. She had learned that all the classrooms had wards with a modified version of the translation spell they had learned. Professor Cauchemar had dismantled the spell for the class but it would be back the next day. The professor had told her that just because the classrooms had translation wards didn't mean she could be lax in practicing the Translator Charm.

It was all so very interesting.

HCA

**Should I spend time on another chapter detailing the rest of the classes on her schedule? **

**Also still in need of a few professors. **

**Thanks.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Hermione skipped lunch. She wanted to find the library. Look for textbooks, as both classes she has been in haven't provided any textbooks, and how can she get ahead in her class if she doesn't read the textbooks until she could recite the contents in her sleep. She shoves down her fear as best she can and wanders looking inside every building starting on the farthest cloud islands and working her way inward. It is only after that Hermione remembers the spell that shows a path leading to where one wants to go.

She learns a lot about the layout of the school by doing this, even as it takes her the entire lunch period to find the library at the center of the school. The school's layout forms the clouds into a concentric spiral bridged in some places with the gleaming bridges of light. The dorms float outside the spiral bridges labeling the direction they are named for. Surprisingly there are different levels not only to the towers and buildings floating on the layer with the dorms but also a lower level with no buildings. It is larger than the main level of islands, the ones that are in the spiral and as Hermione had watched she had seen it shift rising and lowering in a random pattern while older looking students had fired spells at each other. Hermione had been tempted to stay and watch, but she had a mission. She had to explore and find a library. The classrooms surround the library with the first year classrooms the furthest away and the seventh year classrooms closest to the library.

Hermione would have been late for Potions if she hadn't run into Sylvia and Meisa coming out of the library.

"Isn't potions next? The hour ended. Sylvia and I came to the library to practice the translation charms. We asked the librarians to tell us when 55 minutes had gone by and they taught us a clock charm.I'm sure Sylvia will teach you."

Meisa said while Sylvia activated the guide to get them to the potions classroom.

"Walk and talk, why don't we?" Sylvia snarked with a teasing smile as she walks backward.

Meisa smiled and Hermione giggled as they follow after Sylvia.

"But seriously Hermi. Just because we have to hurry to class doesn't mean you get out of telling Mei and me all about why you seem to have been wandering around looking for the library when there is a handy directional system straight out of Ender's Game." Sylvia continued as Meisa and Hermione caught up and she stopped walking backward in favor of walking in between the two. Hermione blushed.

"I forgot about the charm. So instead I uh… walked around looking into every building."

"So instead of using magic you just wandered aimlessly?" Sylvia asked with a snort.

"Sylla be nice. I'm sure Hermione here didn't just wander aimlessly. She is much to smart for that. She got all the charms in class really quickly."

"Yes, yes. Our friend Hermi is genius. She just needs to remember to use all her resources."

"For your information, I didn't wander aimlessly. Yes, I forgot the charm, but now I know where everything is, and the basic layout of the school. Did you know that the school has multiple levels of clouds? The bottom is a huge field and below that I think is stables and maybe a mail system? Do we get mail?"

"Really?" Meisa asked though Hermione thought it was for the information about the field.

"I think we get mail, it would just be hard, you know for the birds to fly this high," Sylvia said, her brow furrowed as she thought.

They talked about what they thought about the school, where they came from and what they thought of classes. By the time they made their way into the Potions classroom, just as the bell rang, they were all smiling.

"You're late. Find seats and sit. I'll let it slide as it's the first day of classes but know this won't be acceptable again." The professor snapped from the front of the class.

Hermione wanted to cry and scream that it was unfair, but she wasn't that brave and so cheeks burning she found a seat in the back next to Neville and tried to shrink into non-existence as the professor explained the curriculum they would be following for the year.

"To first understand Potions you need to understand what makes a potion, the ingredients; namely their properties and how they interact to different stimuli and each other. Do not even think of going near a cauldron until you know all the possible ingredients you might ever be asked to use by heart and some that you'll probably never hear off again. This will hopefully help avoid accidents later. Understood?" The professor asked.

Normally Hermione loved teachers, but she was thinking of making an exception for Professor Beytnyk. He was demanding, sharp-tongued, seemed to think he was of superior intelligence than everyone else, and a perfectionist. On the bright side, Hermione thought, Neville seemed just as fearful of the man as her and was saying nothing about her attempts to disappear.

The man stalked through the room and dropped huge books onto each student desk, barely looking at the students and once he was back at the front asked them to open to the first page and make a heading for the table of contents.

"The first two ingredients you are to learn are easy…" The professor started and Hermione quickly took out her quill and opened the book to the second page. The professor dumped information about the ingredients to them the rest of the class stopping only a minute before the bell to list the two ingredients they where to research before the next class on Thursday.

Hermione hurried toward her last class of the day- Defense. In a corner of her mind, she wondered what they would be asked to defend against. And why it seemed to be such a big deal she had two separate classes both for defense. Honestly. Did one really need that many classes for defense?

Marching along next to Sylvia and Meisa again they were joined by a nervous looking Neville. Hermione hoped he was okay, he seemed to really have low self-esteem and had triple-checked everything he wrote down in Potions. She had finally snapped because his worrying was making her nervous and told him it was fine he was doing fine. Honestly. Hopefully, he would gain some self-confidence or she would be hard-pressed to stand him. Someone constantly questioning their worth was hard to deal with.

_Just as hard to deal with as someone constantly acting like a know-it-all. _A small part of her said. She ignored it in exchange for asking Neville how his day had been, she knew that he had been in all of her classes except the first one where he had some other class but she hadn't been paying attention to him. Except for a few differences in the schedule there were few enough students that would use a wand instead of other magic like house-elf or siren and mermish magic. Vivvie and Anahita had separated from their group after breakfast and their schedules had made it so Hermione hadn't seen them at all.

Hermione broke out of her thoughts to listen to Neville talk excitedly about his first-class differences between the Wizarding and Muggle worlds.

"I knew a bit about it because my family thought I was a squib for most of my life until I got invited here, my great-uncle even tried to throw me out a window to see if he could scare magic out of me. The class was really interesting you know?"

"It was like that with Intro to Wizarding," Meisa said.

"I felt stupid. Like there was this whole new world and I knew nothing and it was worse when we had to write that list. I was just writing down random stuff, anything I had ever heard about this world and what I had observed yesterday." Sylvia said. Hermione nodded, she had had a similar feeling, and she hated it. She hurriedly switched the topic to what class they were looking forward to the most.

The defense classroom was shaped like a theater with rows of seats in a curved pattern around a raised stage. The professor was a heavily tattooed man with just as many scars crisscrossing his body. His demeanor was harsh as he barked out the names on the attendance list. His description of the course made Neville shake with nerves.

"I will teach you how not to die when faced with a feral dangerous magical creature, how to hold your own against a dark wizard and hopefully not die. Normally I would have you run laps to build up your body because of the stronger your body and mental control the stronger your magic and ability to duel. But that's for Self-Defense. Since I doubt that many of you are strong enough or know enough spells to properly duel we will start on ways to defend against various magical creatures. Different creature each week and a half and then a test. Something easy to start with, Vampires. Now I know that there are vampires here but there are precautions in place. I'm talking about a feral blood-thirsty vampire. Someone tell me weaknesses."

A pale boy raised his hand.

"Preferably not a vampire in their own right, Romanov. I know you know your weaknesses, I want to see if others know." The professor said.

The boy put down his hand. The class was silent. Hermione racked her brain for things she had heard about vampires in muggle stories. Maybe there was some truth to them. All of them seemed to have sunlight and some of the older ones contained chickens and cats and holy water and coffin nails or sharpened crosses. Unfortunately, Hermione had never paid much heed to mythological creatures, they were fake and some of the stories seemed completely crazy. Now though she wished she had paid maybe a bit more attention.

Draco or Malfoy as he insisted they call him, unlike most of the students here he seemed to still want to keep himself aloof was the one who finally answered.

"Beheading, some are affected by sunlight, stakes and holy water," Malfoy said confidently in his knowledge that he had it right.

"For the most part. Holy water only works in some places and on some strains of vampires. There are vampires impervious to holy water and some who are impervious to sunlight. Stakes and beheading kids! Those are the best most surefire ways to make sure what's dead stays dead. Works every time. That and an Avada but there are ways to survive it especially if you are already dead. But that's for a later date and a few more years from now. Now ways to identify Vampires. Memorize them quick. Write them down if you want but lists of attributes aren't helpful in the moment you're faced with a would-be vampire. Well, I thought I said to prepare to memorize and said you could use a list where's the parchment? The raised quills? Children these days!"

Hermione almost laughed. It seemed Professor Zachar had an odd sense of humor.

At dinner, that night everyone compared how classes had seemed thought for the most part they had had the same basic core subjects. After dinner, Hermione went off to explore the library as she hadn't been able to since she had explored the school grounds during lunch. What she saw took her breath away. There were levels going up as far as she could see and a reference system, with multiple control stations to prevent lines, that pulled books from the shelves to make it so someone didn't have to spend too much time searching for the book they needed scattering around the main floor which was filled with comfy chairs and tables for study sessions as well as the checkout desk.. Hermione thought herself in love. She wondered if she could volunteer here in her free time, as she had done during the summers starting when she was eight and insisting she didn't need a babysitter anymore. Having no idea what book she could ask the reference system to grab her she started for the circular staircase that took people up to the different levels. There was a level for each subject you could imagine from Alchemy to Zygomancy all in alphabetical order as you went up from A-Z. Hermione saw a level early on devoted entirely to Battle Magic, a level on Blood Magic and Rituals, another for Dark Curses(which had a dark foreboding feel about it), Dueling, Magical Creatures, and Magizoology, the list went on. Once she got to the final level- Zygomancy witch Hermione figured out was just a fancy word for Divination she stopped to sit and rest her legs. Climbing those staircases was an excellent leg workout! Once she was rested Hermione started her way back down.

After working on her Potions homework and practicing the charms she had learned Hermione fell asleep.

The next day was much the same only with different classes. And nothing was as fun as the first day either. In Magical Creatures, the Professor explained that there would be guests speakers coming in to talk to them about different creatures. In Transfiguration, they learned how the theories and didn't get to do any actual spells, though that was okay it was still learning something other than the syllabus. In Magical Law they learned about the basis for Magical government action. Etiquette was not fun, though the professor Lady Lyra Amalthea tried to make learning multiple ways to greet someone interesting.

On Wednesday Hermione didn't know what to expect as she walked into the weirdest class she had ever heard of. Who wanted to teach people how to lie and manipulate?

"Welcome all!" The professor said smiling as they filed in. Her curly brown hair hung loosely around her shoulders and her dark brown eyes gleamed with mirth.

"To start off… My name is… Alicia Nova. I am... actually an escapee from Azkaban. I graduated from school two years ago. Which one was a true statement?"

"You graduated two years ago?" Vladimir said.

"Correct. Name's Alyssa Starr. Totally not a convict. But I must admit to being almost too young to teach, I finished my training a few months before school starts. And in this class, I will be teaching you how to deflect the truth, lie outright, and bend people to your will-all while they think it was their idea in the first place. It is a hard art to master. Of course, I will also teach you how not to fall prey to said manipulations and lies. For today though… Poker faces everyone"

Hermione knew she would like this class and she hoped the rest of the classes today would be just as interesting and fun as a class where they had learned to play poker. As Professor Starr- or Alyas she liked to be called because "Professor makes me sound old"- had said it was a great way to learn to control their features and look for the smallest tells. Everyone had been terrible either forgetting the rules or giving away their hand to early.

The day didn't disappoint. In Survival Skills they learned how to find water and a useful charm for purifying it as well as how to build an A-frame shelter. Professor Syvestris explained how to everything and helped when needed though she was also good at standing by and letting them learn through trial and error.

Self-defense though was hellish. The professor smiled chillingly at them and ordered them to run laps until they couldn't run anymore, do push-ups with proper form and work on strengthening their core, arm, and leg muscles. By the end of the period, Hermione felt like she was dying. She was jealous of how Sylvia could lope along with what seemed like an endless amount of stamina though she was happy that at least her upper body strength wasn't as bad as some. She would have to admit that she was middling. But the professor a were-wolf who had apparently turned thousands insisted that they needed to be able to do all of these things before they could move onto fighting. Though he did show them the basic stances and one of the arm exercises he had involved punching while holding weights. Hermione was glad that it was before lunch or it probably would have been unbearable. Two students had already puked.

Astronomy was interesting Professor Deluna a pale vampiric man with swirling cloaks explained how the movement of the stars could affect magic and tell the future if one knew how to look. Hermione was grateful she had taken the Free Study time to sleep at Sylvia's and Meisa's urging. She had been planning to spend in the library.

The next day the only new class the next day was Herbology where they learned about magical plants in a classroom based on a greenhouse. Then the classes repeated with a class on Magical Art thrown in on Friday and Saturday. They took classes right through Sunday though they also had a large block of free time so the students could all decompress from the busy week. At the end of the week, Hermione felt she could safely call Sylvia and Meisa friends with Neville and Vladimir becoming study buddies with her at her insistence. But Neville had a knack for Herbology that she lacked and Vladimir was excellent at Potions and Hermione helped them where she could. All in all, she felt it was a good relationship based on learning and the sharing of knowledge. And Lie-detecting was fast becoming one of her favorite classes along with Defense and Charms. Her least favorite classes were probably Potions and Self-Defense though she had a feeling that she would thank the two professors for drilling the basics into her as she continued her magical education. But right now- she was bored listing down potions ingredients and all her muscles ached from the grueling hours of Self-Defense- and all she wanted to do was sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Hermione loved and hated Magical Art. It was the third week of classes and they had just finished with their introduction to the history of Magical Art and the Professor had decided that the next thing they need to make was a broom. A BROOM. For flying! Worse, once they had finished making their brooms they would be asked to fly them- in the air! What if she fell! Don't get her wrong she loved learning about magical art and making the broom was an interesting process though currently, they were only choosing what type of wood to make the handle and twigs and bindings out of. Apparently, the different types of wood had attributes that lead to a temperament of sort?! So far she had chosen vine and beech wood and hornbeam-hornbeam for the handle, beech for the twigs and vines inlaid in bronze to connect the two.

Choosing the wood was easy, making the broom the easiest, imbuing the broom with magic so it could fly? Hard. Though the professor was around to help you. Holding her wand in hand she pointed it at the broom she had made and muttered the incantation the professor had taught them for imbuing the broom with magic and flight.

"Perfect Miss Granger. Off you go with your broom. Next class, I'll be teaching you how to fly with them. You have free time for the rest of the class." The professor said.

Hermione grinned and headed off towards the library in the 20 minutes she had before lunch.

Lunch was almost always a noisy affair with friends sitting together at tables laughing. It didn't matter which tower you were sorted into the houses were only where you slept- though Hermione had heard rumors from Phaet that there would be competitions between houses. Hermione hoped the competitions didn't ruin what friendships she had. Sylvia and Meisa were her two closest friends and one of them was in a separate house. Neville, Vlad, and Zarya were all in different towers as well- North, South, and South respectively. Phaet, Anahita and Vivvie(the house-elf also in their dorm)where acquaintances and Malfoy hung around the edges as most people here didn't care for the fact that his father was rich or that his mother had used the school as her charitable deed for the month. His need for friendly companionship forced him to at least be quiet about any prejudice he might have against any in their friend group. So Hermione supposed he was tolerable and Meisa preached acceptance and positive influences.

The cafeteria was also the best place to talk or sign as Anahita was wont to do these days. Mealtimes -though noisy -was when the entire group was in a single place at a single time.

Hermione loved being able to talk about the new magic they were learning and homework that had been assigned. She hadn't exactly been able to do this in her old school. It was a nice change and Hermione hoped that it would last.

She could chatter to Meisa about how horrible the running in self-defense was- though it was getting better slowly. Or ask Phaet- or Malfoy if she was desperate- for help with Etiquette. Or talk to Vlad about Defense tactics or joke with Neville about Herbology. Though currently, she was begging Phaet to quiz her on Etiquette as they had a test coming up in that class next period and Phaet was always so elegant and poised. The test was on invitations and greetings- the class was building up to hosting a party- the next weeks would be about place settings and rules for seating guests. Hermione was nervous- she was polite and well-mannered but there were so many small rules. Hence why she was blabbing about how she needed to do well and needed Phaet to quiz her because otherwise, she would fail and if she fails then she would have to…

Phaet cut her off, holding up one hand with an imperious air. "I'll help. Mon Dieu. Desperation is not a good look on you." She paused. "So what do you want me to quiz you on? And don't say everything 'Mione!"

"But... "

"We have thirty minutes before we have to head to Etiquette. Either invitations or greetings."

"Well, greetings probably." Hermione conceded.

"Great. We'll start easy: How do you properly greet a person of unknown status compared to your own?"

* * *

During the free period after Etiquette, Hermione spent her free period with running laps around the field on the lower level of the school. Meisa and Neville ran next to her while Vlad and Sylvia ran ahead sometimes running back to call encouragements. Hermione was starting to hate how much stamina the two seemed to show. Phaet was painting her nails in the middle of the field while Draco sprawled nearby doing homework occasionally looking up to watch and Zarya flew easy laps in the air above them.

"One more lap!" Vlad called.

"Then core! Then we're done! You can relax and watch Phaet and Draco." Sylvia added.

Hermione would have groaned if she had the breath or the energy to spare. It had been Meisa's idea to improve their physical strength to help them with their defense classes and mainly Self-Defense. So far Professor Zachar was still covering dangerous magical creatures and how to defend against them. So every free period they had they split time between the library researching for whatever homework assignments they had and at the field running perimeters.

Hermione tried to ignore the cramp in her sides as she ran, after all, Sylvia and Vlad didn't seem to have this problem and she didn't want to complain. This was the fourth time they had done this. She was still grateful once she had finished her last lap and flopped down bonelessly.

"One minute of crunches. Then one-minute push-up hold." Sylvia said as she sat down nearby.

Afterwards, Hermione lay on her stomach and watched as Draco and Phaet ran three laps. She knew she should be doing homework they had an essay due in Charms and they had a quiz on the ingredients they had covered so far. With a sigh, she looked down at her paper 'The Theory and History of Wingardium Leviosa'. Reaching for her bag she dug out the book on spell history she had found in the library and thanked the gods that there were spells that kept the air breathable and the ground clear of snow. Though there was still a chill in the air and every once in awhile the teachers summoned snow so that it wasn't monotonous. Today though wasn't one of the snowy days and the ground was clear and hard-packed enough that Hermione could write on it. Taking out one of her quills- she liked them far more than pens she started writing her essay. It was harder than it would have been if she had been allowed to just quote the textbooks after switching around a few words to get away with plagiarism but the teachers had put a stop to that almost immediately.

'_If I wanted to read the textbook I would have gone to the library. I want to see what you make of how different countries and time periods treated muggle-borns.' 'I gave you a passing grade on your essay because it is technically correct; but I'll need more originality, learn to make jumps in between knowledge.' 'Correct, but I'm afraid that just copying the properties down doesn't help you know them. For example, you could double the potency if you diced instead of sliced.' 'I didn't ask for two feet of the textbook and random information tangentially related to the subject of vampires . I asked for one foot on vampires and how to defend against them.' _

All of her teachers who had assigned essays or homework had given her passing grades and variants of the same lecture during her first week. By the second week, Hermione was still struggling to get out of the habit she had formed of regurgitating from the textbook. She hadn't had this problem in primary school! She had been getting the answers passably correct- why did her teachers have to push her to do better!? Sure they did it to everyone but still why couldn't they have been fine with mediocrity! Hermione hated thinking it but academically competitive as she was she hated being pushed out of her comfort zone when she felt she had been doing a good enough job. She had thought those earlier essays would have gotten O's or at least A's.

Staring down at her still blank parchment Hermione sighed and started to write. Hopefully, she could finish the introduction and start on the first paragraph before they were done.

**A/N Sorry for the wait and short chapter. Hope you enjoy. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Hermione was flying- and it was terrifying. It was a small comfort that the ground was magically padded and that this broom had been deemed well-made by her Art instructor. It was scary to be above the ground on a common cleaning appliance with nothing supporting her but the magic that she had placed on the broom herself. Though according to Draco the brooms they learned to fly on at Hogwarts were horrible and falling apart. Of course, he had said that while bragging about his flying skills and how he had escaped from helicopters while flying once( which Hermione thought this quite far fetched) and the teacher had to adjust his grip; so chances were that he was lying. Still, as Hermione did slow figure-eights less than 6 feet below the ground- so even if she did fall and the enchantment had disappeared she wouldn't be too hurt!- she wondered why they had been forced to build their own brooms. A group of students raced their brooms past her laughing as they raced and Hermione's knuckles turned white as she gripped her broom as the wind from their wake buffeted her. Neville was skimming the ground with Meisa next to him as she chattered. Hermione guessed it was to keep him calm as he had almost panicked at the start of class. Sylvia was for someone who had been afraid to jump off a tower flying pretty well as she and another girl tried to outdo one another with tricks; Ananhita looked positively green as she flew in sedate lines from one edge of the field to the other; Vlad and Draco were racing high in the clouds, sometimes diving and dropping before pulling up at the last second before a collision. But they were all flying and their brooms all seemed to be working so Hermione figured that everyone was going to get at least an A on this assignment. The school did that sometimes pushed you to achieve but also couldn't exactly be too punishing with grades either- any negative marks could be used to deny the school legality. Hermione wonders if that is why they get away with it as far as she knows no student has yet tried to take advantage of leniency in the grading process. Though she suspected it was because of the credit system that worked in tandem with the school store that was introduced in the first week. Every time a student got the correct answer, or participated in class, or went to the teachers for extra credit or to ask how they could improve were given small amounts of credit that went to their towers 'coffers'. These credits could then be used to buy things from the school store. Anything from quills and parchment to pranks and candy could be found at the store. Though you had to ask your Tower Head to sign off on any purchase. She thought it was a rather clever system.

At the end of class, Hermione dropped her broom off in the common room before heading to the library to return a book and then to lunch where Sylvia and Meisa were listening to Zarya and Vlad argue about who the better flyer was. Draco was nodding along distractedly. Vivvy who had joined their table for once- normally Hermione barely saw her even at mealtime was the first to notice Hermione had arrived and waved hello. Meisa stopped listening to the argument at the movement, turned and noticed Hermione.

"Hey Hermi!" She exclaimed. "Do you know what's up with Draco? He seems a bit out of it." She yawned suddenly as Vlad and Zarya quieted down.

"Why haven't you just asked him. Draco?"

"The full moon is in a few days. There are werewolves in the school and so far no one has expressed any concerns or mentioned any safety measures to keep the rest of us from being bitten! Has no one else noticed?!" Draco nearly shouted. He looked almost panicked and she wondered how long he had been holding his outburst back.

"That it's a full moon? I'm a werecat, of course, I noticed the fact that it's a full moon coming; why did you think I was more snappy and irritable and tired? ...Every time the moon waxes I grow steadily more tired as my werecat magic weakens. I believe we learned that it was the opposite for werewolves in Care of Magical Creatures. The lack of precautions is because Headmistress Sicari and the werewolf professor both believed it would be better for students to not make a fuss about the shift. To make a big deal out of it with obvious precautions in place would imply the shift and the people who shift are to be feared. ...Did none of you notice that I went missing on the 15th and 16th?" Sylvia sassed.

Hermione realised with a shock that she hadn't. She also hadn't noticed how bad Sylvia looked. There where bags under her bloodshot eyes that hadn't been there that morning-a glamour most like- and the werecat was paler than usual. Hermione wondered how she could have had the energy to fly and do tricks on her broom in class today or to simply get up this morning.

"No? Wow. What horrible friends I have." Sylvia muttered picking at her food.

Hermione wanted to explain that she hadn't had real friends before but decided that that might be seen as insensitive and not really what a friend would do. At least she thought that a friend wouldn't give an excuse-but again she didn't know. Oh, how she hated not knowing. As she mentally struggled on whether or not to say something Malfoy responded.

"How could I have noticed? You do realize that I have a different dorm room. SO you can't say that I'm a horrible friend and you also can't call the rest of them either. If anyone is going to be horrible it would be me. We've already stated that I'm not horrible; in this case at least." Draco snapped though he looked calmer than before.

Sylvia sighed. "Touche I guess."

The tension leaked out of the air that surrounded their table though the conversation remained strained.

That night Hermione stood on the balcony of East Tower and watched the werewolves romp through the grounds below. It was beautiful in a haunting, savage sort of way. They tore into deer and other game that had been brought up for this precise purpose. A pop startled her as Vivvy popped into existence next to her.

"Can yous not sleep? Vivvy can make warm milk to help you sleep. It has worked for Vivvy's Mistress's young ones before. Vivvy is good at making people sleep."

"Oh! No thank you Vivvy. But maybe a conversation . I mean if you want, I don't want to trouble you!" Hermione said as she worked to calm her heartbeat.

"It help Hemie to sleep?" Vivvy asked.

Hermione nodded. Vivvy had been sold as a nanny elf to a young pureblooded couple who were of the mindset that children should be seen and not heard. If Vivvy wasn't able to keep the children quiet- especially if there where guests over she would be punished harshly. She had been working with the family for 9 years before the family decided to send Vivvy to the school for reeducation as the three children were old enough to stay quiet without the help of an elf to care for them. Vivvy though worried for her children as she called them being lonely or feeling abandoned and took out her need to mother on the people in the tower. Each house-elf seemed to want to help out among their towers any way they could for that matter something about their magic needing a place or person to help to keep stable.

"So what does Hermie want to talk about? What is troubling yous?" Vivvie asked turning her large blue eyes toward Hermione.

"I wanted to see what they do with the were students during their transformations. What did they eat? Do they just run around? Why don't they try to attack the towers? I read a book about werewolves that said they lose their minds on the full moon, is that true? Do they remember what they do? Do they take wolfsbane? What about for the werecats? There weren't many books in Diagon Alley about werecats, werewolves either and we only covered the basics in Magical Creatures. Sorry. I'm babbling aren't I?" Hermione said rapid-fire.

"Vivvie doesn't mind yous babbling. But she thinks you should calm down. Hermie should have some tea. Has Hermie not checked the library? Hermie must be very stressed. Why?" With that Vivvie snapped her fingers and a cup of chamomile tea appeared next to Hermione.

"Drink. Vivvie made it just as you like it." The house-elf said in a stern tone. Hermione sighed and took a sip of tea.

"I love this place but sometimes I just feel so distant from everyone, even my friends. Besides I'm a horrible friend! I didn't even notice that Sylv wasn't feeling good!"Hermione exclaimed.

"I see. Well only Hermie can help herself with that. But for what's it worth Vivvie thinks yous are a great friend. Remember to get some sleep- and finish your tea!" Vivvie said as she popped away. Hermione was left sitting on the balcony all alone with a steaming cup of tea at her side.

**This story is probably not going to be updated in a while. I've hit a wall and am going to be taking a step back to hopefully chart my way to the end of the first year. **


	8. Chapter 8

Curses rushed past her ears as she flew some she was only just able to dodge. But this was 'War' and only to be expected, her silver masque showing her allegiance to enemy and ally alike. Today East was allied with West and the blue and silver masques complemented nicely in her opinion. She dodged another curse with a simple barrel roll, allowing her to surreptitiously check the forces dueling on the ground.

"Hermione, I've found their airborne general! That boy who's circling around above the fighting pretending to be an Informant. He's obviously not one of us, he has the wrong sort of fly pattern to be searching for people and is consistently flying high." Draco's voice said into her ear as it was transferred through her masque's comm from his. It was a stunningly ingenious use of the older kids in "years" bove her in their study of muggle and magic technology.

"Copy that Draco. Pincer or will you take care of it yourself?" She responded as her eyes found the boy in question, a boy a few years older than her in a green and bronze swirled mask, marking him as a North soldier. Draco was right he was pretty obvious, she was surprised he had lasted so long amongst the supposedly sharp and observant Informants. Though maybe it was because Informants like her and Draco where so used to be looking at the 'War' going on below and not their fellows except to trade curses and hexes in passing.

"I'll take care of it myself, pass a message to Quillon and Annalysa, they should know that the alliance is this close to victory."

Hermione didn't answer, she didn't need to, instead sending off messages to Quillon Guillet, the boy in charge of the Eastern army and his Western counterpart, Annalysa Rosario.

With her job done she drifted higher and watched the mass of people flying and running about below her. 'War' had been a game decided on after the Headmistress had been notified that the school apparently needed a sport, or clubs. Quidditch had been mentioned but tossed aside, and they had finally come up with a game that most everyone was happy about. It was like chess, but with multiple dimensions and the ability to 'cheat' because of the two Informants a Torre was allowed to play. It was not as messy as actual war and there were boundaries and a time limit of 24 hours. The rules were actually pretty simple: one had to decimate the other teams by taking out the participants with hexes and spells, and there were no limits except that it had to be healable, game ended once all Generals on one side had been killed or the team surrendered. There were four different positions(the Generals for each team, medics, Informants, soldiers), and two split teams in each Torre, the airborne and the melee fighters. If one team for the Torre surrendered the other team could continue as the airborne and melee had different generals, both airborne and melee had medics that learned healing spells( teachers had taken on medic apprentices when the games had stated), both airborne and melee had separate soldiers trying to hex each other, and each Torre had two informants that flew through the air and traced patterns and abnormalities to try and find the Generals who gave the orders and where arguably the most important.

Hermione had thought she would be a melee fighter at the first match but had quickly realized that she didn't do well in that situation. She froze and though she had the same Self-defense training as the others she was more apt to freeze and try to think the match through. She had hated that she didn't seem to fit in the game and had thought about not participating as that was optional after the first match. Sylvia who had tried Melee with her was much more apt at it along with Anahita, Neville and Vivvie seemed to have found a place as medics,Vlad and Phaet where an airborne soldier, and Meisa and Draco had both become Informants. It was Meisa who had suggested she try out as an Informant in the second match a week later. As it was still a new game everyone had been moving positions, and Generals still switched every game, until they found a good match or decided they would rather watch. She had actually done a good job and though she still had not been very comfortable on a broom she had improved with every game.

The next question had been about how to communicate as secrecy was key. Professor Aly had separated each of her classes into Torres(even if the students didn't participate in 'War') for 2 months and helped them all come up with secret codes and hand signs, as well as teach them the history and basics of ciphers. Everyone had had such fun that they all came together at the end to come up with Haven Cross Code or HCC, a mix of hand signs, facial expressions, hums and clicks to tell messages. A month after that Zarya, the fairy that Hermione had seen and who sometimes accompanied Vlad to their groups meetups, had worked together with an older student from Water to create the masques and today the communication between peoples of the same Torre was a mix of their hand signs and ciphers, and masque communication when on the field. It was complicated, but it had been fun learning and creating new codes and forms of communication, and then actually using them, as well as coming up with rules for a whole new game. But flying now Hermione was happy that she had done so.

At the end of the 24 hours, the West East alliance had won and everyone slowly made their way back to their Torres There was a reason that the games were held on the one dayn the Weekend and only occurred once a month. Any other time or more often would disrupt learning and students sleep schedules.

And even playing 'War' they were learning. The melee fighters practiced the hand to hand combat styles they learned in Self-defense, everyone but especially the Informants learned how to look for the slightest tells and how to manipulate tells as had been taught in Lie-detecting/Manipulation, everyone practiced their spells, and at the end of the game they learned and practiced proper Etiquette for winning and losing. The Older students practiced potion making(Betnyk had been convinced that he could be a hardass about not making a potion for the first and second years but could teach the older students potion ingredients while teaching potion making, for the sake of the school, as it needed to show a proficiency in teaching potions and brewing) by making healing brews for the medics and brews to help everyone stay awake and from exhaustion. (Of course after a game everyone crashed hard, and all morning classes were pushed back).

Hermione was happy for that as she stared blankly up at the ceiling of her room with a pounding headache, an aftereffect of all the potions and coffee she had ingested to keep alert during the game.


End file.
